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Cook: ECB were wrong to sack me

England's Test captain Alastair Cook has criticised the ECB for stripping him of the role of one-day captain before the World Cup.

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Written BySportal

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Alastair Cook believes England's Cricket World Cup failure
proved the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was wrong to axe
him as one-day international captain.

Test skipper Cook was replaced by Eoin Morgan in December
following a 5-2 series loss to Sri Lanka in which the opening
batsman made just 119 runs from six innings with a top score of
34.

That failed to inspire the turnaround in ODI form the selectors
will hoped for as England crashed out of the World Cup with a
whimper, suffering a humiliating defeat at the hands of Bangladesh
to miss out on a place in the quarter-finals.

Asked if the change in captaincy was the wrong move, Cook said:
"I'm always going to have a slightly biased view on that.

"I was there for three-and-a-half years trying to do a job. We
got to number one in the world with a full strength side and got to
the final of the Champions Trophy.

"There were things I can be very proud of. As any captain will
tell you, leading your country in a World Cup is a huge honour and
one that can never be taken lightly. I was very much looking
forward to that.

"I understand the pressure I was under. I wasn't scoring the
runs I should, or could, have been scoring, so I understand that my
position was in jeopardy.

"I said at the end of Sri Lanka that if there was a change, I
couldn't complain because I hadn't scored the runs.

"But I think you saw in Australia the dangers of making such a
big decision so close to the tournament.

"I don't know what's gone on on that tour, and I can only speak
from watching a little bit from afar, but it did look like the lads
were shell shocked from the first two games.

"That's when you need real leadership to help steer you through
that. Whether I would have made a difference, I don't know.

"But I was fully confident we would get out of our group, and
from there, you've got to win three games in a row – that's how
this World Cup has worked.

"I can't speak about what's gone on there in depth, but you
always back yourself, and I would have loved to have had the
opportunity that was taken away from me.

"The selectors made that decision because they thought it was
the best for English cricket. Hindsight has probably proved them
wrong, but now it's very easy to say that."